Railway-frog



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. A. STROM.

RAILWAY FROG.

(No Model.)

No; 395,929. Patented Jan. 8, 1889.

JZJceZ if. 55 07 4 Hi? W' W- 2 Sh'eetsSheet 2- (No Mod L) A. A-

RAILWAY FROG- Patented Jan. 8, 1889. No. 395,929.

NITED STATES ATENT AXEL A. STROH, OF AUSTIN, ILLINOIS.

RAI LWAY- FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,929, dated January8, 1889.

Application filed A g 21, 1888. Serial No. 283,316. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AXEL A. STROM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Austin, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Railway-Frogs, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of my improvement is principally to supply a construction offrog which shall meet the requirements becoming more and more urgent onthe part of users that the device shall possess as properties extremelightness, comparatively speaking, necessary strength in the security ofits connected parts, as also, of course, in the metal of which it isformed, accessibility of its parts for permitting readily the removal ofdirt, snow, ice, &c., and economy of material. To attain strength in thedevice as a whole, frogs have hitherto, as a common manner of theirconstruction, been rendered massive, and consequently heavy andcorrespondingly expensive, b y providing so-called filling in the spacesbetween the rails forming them. The filling also, as a furtherdisadvantage, tends, owing to the height to which it is thoughtnecessaryto have it extend between the rails, to cause fracturing of the flangesof the wheels of the rolling-stock as they become worn on their treadswith use, causing the flanges cventually to meet the filling-blocks.

By my improved construction Iam enabled to dispense with the fillingwithout thereby depriving the frog of the necessary bracing whichfilling a'llords between the rails and of convenient accessibilitybetween the rails for removing accumulations of dirt, snow, ice, &c.

A further object of my improvement is to so construct the point of thefrog that the shorter of the two beveled point-rails shall not, ashitherto, be liable to the effect of pounding by the wheels of therolling-stock, which tends to sever the connection with its companionrail.

My invention consists in details of construction and combinations ofparts.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a railway-frog of myimproved construction. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same, takenbelow the heads of the rails. Fig. is

a cross-section. Fig. at is a plan view of the blank before it is bentto form the brace shown in Figs. 1 and 2 between the frograils. Fig. 5is a horizontal section of the frog, taken below the heads of the rails,and showing a modified construction of the bracing medium.

A A are the wing-rails,'of ordinary form, and B and B are respectivelythe shorter and longer point-rails. \Vhere the rail B is secured at itsbeveled surface to the point-rail 3 the laterally-reduced head portion.is beveled off on its top toward the extremity, as shown at 2' in Fig.1, so that the wheels of the rolling-stock in moving onto the frog-pointwill not impinge against the extremity of the rail 13 and by poundingagainst it gradually sever its connection with the rail B.

C is a brace or truss, the form shown at opposite sides of thefrog-point in Fig. 2 being produced from a blank, 0, of the shaperepresented in Fig. 4, comprising a metal bar, preferably of rectangularform and bent edgewise toward its opposite ends to produce upon thecentral or body portion, 0, the outwardly-oblique extensions p and thehorizontal outwardly-extending extremities 02 The brace is formed fromthe blank by bending the latter at about the centers of the extensions pto bring the body portion oonaplane lateral to that upon which theextremities 71 extend, and thereby forming the ext-cnsionsp intotroughs. The width of the brace is such as to cause it to lit in thespace which receives it between rails, so that when adjusted in positionthe extremities 01, thus forming foot portions, are against the web ofone (say a wing) rail, while the body portion 0 is against the opposingside of the web of the adjacent point-rail, the troughs p restingagainst the flange of the wing-rail, and the parts 0 and 72 of the bracebeing, by preference, beveled on corresponding sides toward the lateraledges, to cause them to conform to the angular shape of the spaces atthe sides of the rails between the heads and flanges. \Vhere the :footportions 91 are in contact with the web. they are secured to the latter,each preferably by two bolts, m, while the part 0 of the brace may besecured to the web of the adjacent rail by the rivets m, which securethe rails l; and 13' together toward their points, additional rivetsbeing used, it? 1'o- (paired, as in .liig. 1, where the body portions oftho braees are slightly bout to bring thorn 5 against the opposite sidesof the web of tho pointed portion of the rail 13' where it oxtondsbeyond the rail I). ll desired, tho toot portion a at the end of a braeewhich is secured near the flaring oxtroinity ot' awing- 1o rail, may bebent horiztmtally, as shown in l igs. l and 2, to extend aeross thospaee botwoen rails and all'ord a toot-guard, l.

A 't'rog thrnu'ah as deseribed, with braeos of tho emistruetion set['orth,besidtsbeinglight- 15 and strong, presents no materialobstruetion to aeeess between the rails for tho removal by sweeping orthe like of dirt, snow, iee, &e.

A single braee maybe eni 'iloyed lorone side of a frog at the point, asin the ease of :0 spring rail-|'rogs.

'lhe braee may be modified in its eonstruetion, as shown in Fig. 5. Thelattor eoinprises, praetieally, a seetion of tho braee alreadydescribed, and whieh has one of the foot portions 11, the othor li'ootportion being atl'ordml by the severed seetion ol' the body portion.Thus, it desired, eaeh otfthebraeos tirst desm'ibe 'l may bo sovoredbet\ve(,-n the troughs p near its opposite ends into two sootions, eaehforming a shorter braee of tho :t'ords flanged bearings :t'or bracingthe frogpoint at opposite sides and against the flan es of thowing-rails, thoroby bracing the polnt not only against lateral but alsoagaii'ist ver tieal movement, the troughs which. are prae tieallyflanges of tho braeo resting upon tho flanges ol' the wing-rails.

What I elaim as now and desiro to seeuro by TAtlilIOl'S Patent, 'is- 'l.In a railroad-frog or tho like, the eonib'ination, with adjacent rails,of a braeo,( 1, formed of a bent metal bar haying foot p0rtions it atopposito ends and an intm'mediziite trouglnp, snltst ant'ially as andFor the purpose sot t'ort'h.

In a railway-t'rog, the Frog-point eoinprising a point-rail, l5, and apoint-rail, 1i, soeured to tho rail U and having its wedgeshaped endbevelod on its upper side, as shown at r in a downward dircwtion towardtho pivoted end of the l'rog substantially as d eseri bed.

3. In a railway-frog or the like, the eoinbination, withadjaeentrails,ol' abr:'leo,(, eon1- prising a body portion, 0, havingtoot portions it at: opposito onds oxtending laterally ol' the bodyportion, and a tl()ll),'li,]), betwoon eaeh toot; portion and theadjaeent end of the body portion substantially asand tortho purpose setforth.

4. A rail-frog having its point braeed on opposite sides by means otlianged landings resting tlatwise against? the z'uljaeent flanges of thowing-rails and seeured tlatwise to tho web portion of thepoint,substantially as deseribed.

AXlCL A. S'IROM. ln presenee o|'- (firms. .ioll'NsoN, .i. W. l v n 1mma-z'ln.

